Deliveries will exceed 7 million for the first time in 2010, says Volkswagen

To cope with demand, Volkswagen AG will add work shifts at its main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, in the first quarter. Volkswagen plans to increase sales by 11% to 7 million vehicles this year.

At a works council event, David McAllister, prime minister of the German state of Lower Saxony, said that the carmaker will raise production from January through March at the plant, which produces the Golf compact, Tiguan SUV and Touran minivan.

To meet the increasing sales of the Golf, four shifts will be added in January alone. McAllister, a member of VW's supervisory board, said, “Volkswagen is booming.”

McAllister added that Volkswagen, which is 20%-owned by Lower Saxony, aims to create more permanent jobs for temporary workers after providing unlimited contracts to 400 interim staff.

Volkswagen is prepared to invest 51.6 billion euros ($68 billion) in its automotive business through 2015 as part of efforts to topple Toyota Motor Corp. off its title as the world's leading carmaker.

On Dec. 6, Volkswagen said that it seeks to add 50,000 jobs globally in the period, with about 10% of new positions in Germany, which is VW's second-biggest market after China. [via autonews - sub. required]